Issue 4, 2021 - New bionic surgical sutures are successfully developed

Recently, the team of academician Yu Shuhong of the University of Science and Technology of China explored the microstructure and mechanical properties of lotus silk fibers based on the natural phenomenon of "broken silk connection", and was inspired by this to develop a lotus silk bacterial cellulose hydrogel fiber
that can be used for surgical sutures.

Yu Shuhong's team processed bacterial cellulose hydrogel into hydrogel fibers
with a lotus-like micron helical structure.
The hydrogel fiber combines high strength and toughness with excellent hydrophilicity and biocompatibility
.
In addition, the bionic spiral structure also gives the material an elastic modulus similar to that of human skin, and when the wound is deformed by force, the hydrogel fiber can effectively buffer and absorb energy, and achieve synchronous deformation with the human tissue, so as to avoid secondary injury
caused by cut wounds.

Due to its biomimetic helical structure, the toughness of hydrogel fibers can reach about 116.
3MJ/m3, which is more than
9 times that of untreated bacterial cellulose hydrogel fibers.
At the same time, the three-dimensional nanofiber network of bacterial cellulose hydrogel makes the hydrogel fiber have a high strength
of more than 90MPa.

Compared with traditional cotton or polymer threads, hydrogel fiber sutures have the characteristics of high biocompatibility, high moisture content, low irritation and low friction resistance, and have significant advantages in protecting damaged tissues, promoting wound healing and reducing adverse reactions, so they are expected to become the next generation of new high-end surgical sutures
.